Did an interview with her, I found her pretty interesting. The article is fairly long so I will link it and post some of it and if you have any interest in it you'll have to click the link (sorry I know it's against usual procedure.)

It's great that they are signing worldwide talent (especially that of Australian talent) and there are certainly a lot of fighters here that could do well.

Shannon Knapp – Invicta FC

If you’ve been living under some kind of MMA rock and you are not sure what Invicta Fighting Championships is all about, President Shannon Knapp sums it up pretty easily, “We are all about putting on the best match-ups in the world.”

A key part to that is the expansion of the promotions roster, which has seen two Australian fighters become signed to the all-female fight organisation. “I came across Bec (Hyatt) through Twitter and Facebook and she sparked my interest. We noticed she had quite a following and took a look at her fights, there was something about her and we quickly identified that she had that spark.” The “spark” that Shannon speaks of, is something that has seen Bec help the sport of Mixed Martial Arts (and more-so the women’s aspect of it) gain unprecedented mainstream media coverage in Australia. On her first Australian signing, Shannon couldn’t stop raving, “honestly we were extremely impressed with everything. She put on an amazing performance and she certainly proved to be the total package. She is passionate and talented and certainly an asset to Invicta.”

With Bec being the first Australian to make the progression to the premiere platform for women’s MMA it was only natural that more Australians would follow. Shortly after Invicta 4 it was announced that fellow Aussie fighter Alex Chambers would also be fighting for Invicta. “She had been on the radar for a while and we certainly had every intention of signing Alex, timing wise it just happened when it happened,” Shannon explained.

With Invicta showcasing some of the best Women’s MMA in the world, it has made other promotions worldwide and also throughout Australia, identify the value in having female fighters on their cards. In October of 2012 Australian promotion Brace For War put on an event that was filled with all female fighters and since then we have seen most fight shows in Australia feature several female fights on their cards. On this progression Shannon was impressed, “What Brace did was great to see. It’s always good to see promoters take that risk and it helps us grow tremendously. What we need to do is continue to grow the sport and create more opportunities for female fighters.”

Having such a diverse talent pool is something that Shannon is proud of and with so many fighters knocking on her door to get their shot, it’s always about them first. “I like to think we are an equal opportunity employer,” Shannon explained, “We will take on any fighter that is looking to do their best to develop the sport and any athlete that strives to be the best. If you keep doing what you are doing and you are trying to make yourself better you will be noticed. We want people who want to elevate themselves,” a big part of that is having the best fighters fight the best competition. To some MMA fans it may feel like the UFC of old, where the roster may have appeared thin but it was the best fighters striving to complete at an elite level and fighting whoever was is their path, to be seen as the best in the world.

Things have been moving quickly for Invicta who now find themselves turning one year old in April, after overcoming their first hurdle of building a consistent fan base they now look to 2013 as the year to start monetizing the show. With so much going...continue reading

Shannon Knapp – Invicta FC

If you’ve been living under some kind of MMA rock and you are not sure what Invicta Fighting Championships is all about, President Shannon Knapp sums it up pretty easily, “We are all about putting on the best match-ups in the world.”

A key part to that is the expansion of the promotions roster, which has seen two Australian fighters become signed to the all-female fight organisation. “I came across Bec (Hyatt) through Twitter and Facebook and she sparked my interest. We noticed she had quite a following and took a look at her fights, there was something about her and we quickly identified that she had that spark.” The “spark” that Shannon speaks of, is something that has seen Bec help the sport of Mixed Martial Arts (and more-so the women’s aspect of it) gain unprecedented mainstream media coverage in Australia. On her first Australian signing, Shannon couldn’t stop raving, “honestly we were extremely impressed with everything. She put on an amazing performance and she certainly proved to be the total package. She is passionate and talented and certainly an asset to Invicta.”

With Bec being the first Australian to make the progression to the premiere platform for women’s MMA it was only natural that more Australians would follow. Shortly after Invicta 4 it was announced that fellow Aussie fighter Alex Chambers would also be fighting for Invicta. “She had been on the radar for a while and we certainly had every intention of signing Alex, timing wise it just happened when it happened,” Shannon explained.

With Invicta showcasing some of the best Women’s MMA in the world, it has made other promotions worldwide and also throughout Australia, identify the value in having female fighters on their cards. In October of 2012 Australian promotion Brace For War put on an event that was filled with all female fighters and since then we have seen most fight shows in Australia feature several female fights on their cards. On this progression Shannon was impressed, “What Brace did was great to see. It’s always good to see promoters take that risk and it helps us grow tremendously. What we need to do is continue to grow the sport and create more opportunities for female fighters.”

Having such a diverse talent pool is something that Shannon is proud of and with so many fighters knocking on her door to get their shot, it’s always about them first. “I like to think we are an equal opportunity employer,” Shannon explained, “We will take on any fighter that is looking to do their best to develop the sport and any athlete that strives to be the best. If you keep doing what you are doing and you are trying to make yourself better you will be noticed. We want people who want to elevate themselves,” a big part of that is having the best fighters fight the best competition. To some MMA fans it may feel like the UFC of old, where the roster may have appeared thin but it was the best fighters striving to complete at an elite level and fighting whoever was is their path, to be seen as the best in the world.

Things have been moving quickly for Invicta who now find themselves turning one year old in April, after overcoming their first hurdle of building a consistent fan base they now look to 2013 as the year to start monetizing the show. With so much going on so quickly Shannon was open to taking their show on the road. When asked of the possibility of getting a show in Australia Shannon was optimistic. “I would love to do an overseas show, it’s really something that I think we could do once we build the brand up and get a steady foundation,” she stated. With Invicta already having an international roster it makes sense for them to eventually take the best female fighters all over the world to showcase some of the best fights that MMA has to offer.

Shannon really knows the importance of social media in the sport, although it’s not compulsory for Invicta fighters to be active in social media and other Internet platforms, it is certainly encouraged, “if I can use this stuff at my age then anybody can use it,” Shannon laughed. The way that social media can be used to market and promote a fighter and an entire event is something that goes hand in hand with our sport and Shannon embraces it, “It’s important to be able to market yourself, if you keep doing what you are doing in the cage but can also network and market yourself you will get noticed,” she explained.

A question that has been raised by many MMA fans is when we would be likely to see an all-female version of The Ultimate Fighter, Shannon was quick to note that although a similar project would be ideal, TUF is not something that Invicta would be looking at, “We like to be the innovators, not the imitators,” she explained. “Of course we would love to do some kind of reality show. I would rather it be a bit more in depth and focus more on what the fighters have to go through. We wouldn’t really consider doing a TUF style show, whilst it’s good and TUF is TUF there is only so much people can take of it, after doing it once or twice it starts to get old.”

Of course none of what Invicta does would be possible without the fans and Shannon knows that, “our fans are great and we really do have a lot of passionate people that want to see us do well,” she explained. A group that many promoters do not attribute their success to, is the media, Shannon on the other hand was also thankful for their interest and involvement in the promotion. Another important aspect to the Invicta success is the staff, which Shannon refers to as the “Invicta family” having a great team ensures that everything runs smoothly whether it’s day to day business or putting on the companies fifth show in April, “The Invicta staff make everything possible and we really do have the best team,” Shannon stated.

Invicta 5 is set to take place in April and will feature both Bec Hyatt and Alex Chambers on the card. If you are at all “on the fence” with Women’s MMA, this card will be one that will change your mind and help you fall in love with the sport of MMA all over again!

Yeah I tried in the original but it had the limit. Should have just done a double like was suggested :) not looking for clicks, just want my stuff read which I know people prefer to read just on here instead of going to third party websites.

ShoeMoney - "Thanks I can never get enough of Shannon Knapp" , said no one

She is the Dixie Carter of TNA to the MMA that is WWE in my opinion.

I know fans here like that Rowdy Bec posts and that championing women in MMA is like being into Japanese MMA versus American but the truth is that MMA is niche and women's MMA is more niche than even the WNBA.

I wish her success.

But it's hard to get Joe Sports Fan to watch women do anything but wear a kilt at the Tilted Kilt so it's definitely going to be tough convincing them to watch women beat each other up.

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